“National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets”, some of which was filmed right here in the Black Hills of South Dakota, will be released on DVD May 20, according to Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.
The cast and crew spent quite a bit of time in the Black Hills last year. They reportedly liked the area so much that they added new scenes to the film to take advantage of the great visual backdrops.
The film really did showcase Black Hills scenery, and the tourism industry hopes those spectacular South Dakota scenes will persuade visitors to come and see for themselves. That’s pretty much what happened when “Dances With Wolves” and “North By Northwest” were filmed here.
The movie, starring Nicolas Cage as treasure hunter Benjamin Franklin Gates, had its theatrical release in December. The sequel takes viewers to the Library of Congress, the streets of London and the secretive locales behind the heads of Mount Rushmore National Memorial.
The DVD will include at least one deleted scene from the Black Hills. According to the Disney release, “Jon Turteltaub introduces extended and deleted scenes including ‘Pursuit At Rushmore: The Unseen Chapter,’ in which the intrepid group of treasure hunters makes its way into the Black Hills of South Dakota while doing their best to avoid the FBI.”
In addition, there’s a DVD extra called “The Book of Secrets: On Location.” Here’s what Disney had to say:
“From the Black Hills and Badlands of South Dakota to London’s historic Buckingham Palace, National Treasure: Book of Secrets was given unprecedented access to previously off limits locations. Go behind the scenes at the Library of Congress, Mount Vernon, Buckingham Palace and the Statue of Liberty in Paris.”
Of course, the DVD likely won’t explain how the producers managed to get a lake behind the heads of Mount Rushmore. But if you remember Hitchcock’s “North By Northwest,” you know that Hollywood cares more for drama than geographic accuracy when they shoot on location.
If the lake really was behind Mount Rushmore, they you’d surely see it sitting right next to James Mason’s house.
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